Development of a geothermally assisted process for the production of liquid fuels and chemicals from pinewood. Executive summary of Final report
The primary goal of the work discussed in this report was to investigate the extent to which pinewood could be converted to fermentable sugars using geothermal hot water to enhance conversion of lignocellulosic biomass to ethanol. The delignification process is a synthesis of two recently developed pulping processes. In the first step, called autohydrolysis, hot water is used directly to solubilize hemicellulose and to depolymerize lignin. Then, in a second step known as organosolv pulping, the autohydrolyzed material is extracted with aqueous alcohol. The autohydrolysis conditions that permitted the maximum recovery of the sugars produced by the chemical hydrolysis of the hemicellulosic component were determined. Next, using material subjected to autohydrolysis under these conditions, we made a thorough study of the effects of variations in the organosolv extraction procedure on the yield of sugar in the subsequent enzymatic hydrolysis of the cellulosic component. In this work, we were guided by a desire to maximize the yield of sugar and to minimize the use of solvent. The latter constraint arose due to the cost that would be involved in reconcentrating (by distillation) large amounts of diluted aqueous alcohol. Once optimal (or near optimal) pretreatment conditions were determined, we made a study of the effects of two major parameters, substrate concentration and enzyme/substrate ratio, on the sugar yield from enzymatic hydrolysis of optimally pretreated wood. In related experiments we characterized the efficiency with which these sugars could be fermented to ethanol. 14 references, 8 figures, 4 tables.
- Research Organization:
- Colorado State Univ., Fort Collins (USA). Dept. of Agricultural and Chemical Engineering
- DOE Contract Number:
- AS07-79ID12051
- OSTI ID:
- 7065601
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/ID/12051-T3; ON: DE84014793
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Portions are illegible in microfiche products
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
15 GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
WOOD
ENZYMATIC HYDROLYSIS
HEAT TREATMENTS
SOLVENT EXTRACTION
ETHANOL
GEOTHERMAL ENERGY
GLUCOSE
LIGNIN
ORGANIC SOLVENTS
PINES
PROCESS HEAT
PRODUCTION
RECOVERY
RECYCLING
ALCOHOLS
ALDEHYDES
CARBOHYDRATES
CHEMICAL REACTIONS
CONIFERS
DECOMPOSITION
ENERGY
ENERGY SOURCES
EXTRACTION
HEAT
HEXOSES
HYDROLYSIS
HYDROXY COMPOUNDS
LYSIS
MONOSACCHARIDES
ORGANIC COMPOUNDS
PLANTS
POLYSACCHARIDES
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
SACCHARIDES
SEPARATION PROCESSES
SOLVENTS
SOLVOLYSIS
TREES
090222* - Alcohol Fuels- Preparation from Wastes or Biomass- (1976-1989)
140504 - Solar Energy Conversion- Biomass Production & Conversion- (-1989)
151000 - Geothermal Energy- Direct Energy Utilization